A new Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) information pamphlet details the geology in Edness K. Wilkins State Park. The park sits on the banks of the North Platte River near the city of Casper and is the sixth in the state parks pamphlet series.

Once a quarry mined for gravel, the State of Wyoming purchased the land in the 1980s to establish a park commemorating the life of long-time state legislator and Casper resident Edness Kimball Wilkins. The site has since been reclaimed, with the former gravel pits now serving as ponds that attract visitors and wildlife to the park.

Edness K. Wilkins State Park is shaped by a variety of geologic processes that have occurred in the last 100 million years, including the rise and fall of an ancient seaway that once covered Wyoming. The park also provides a good vantage of nearby landforms such as Casper Mountain, which has a core composed of rocks that are more than 2.5 billion years old.

The North Platte River is the longest river in Wyoming and is a main feature in the park. Groundwater easily exchanges between the river and the park’s ponds through the porous sand and gravel that line the river banks.

“In a relatively small area, Edness K. Wilkins State Park offers visitors the opportunity to view rocks and landforms shaped by several distinct processes,” says WSGS geologist James Mauch. “Its geologic heritage spans from the Western Interior Seaway 93 million years ago to the ongoing channel migration of the North Platte River, providing an apt illustration of the diversity of scales at which geologic processes occur.”

Other state park pamphlets available are Bear River, Keyhole, Guernsey, Seminoe, and Curt Gowdy. Pamphlets are free and are available at the WSGS office on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie and at park visitor centers. Pamphlets also are available for download from the WSGS website.

"The Wyoming state park geology series is intended for non-geologists and geologists alike," says WSGS director, Dr. Erin Campbell. "We hope these pamphlets help raise appreciation of the world-class geology we enjoy every day in Wyoming."